1. The breasts aren't emphasized, because most girls (the target audience) could care less about the sizes of a character's breasts. If the main character of a shoujo just happened to be drawn with large breasts, then so be it; it wouldn't make the manga any more or less interesting. Girls typically don't read manga to look at another girl's boobs. We'll leave that to the guys.

2. They have breasts. There just isn't much cleavage. Maybe you haven't done enough research (or been with enough girls), but girls with B-cups (which naturally don't have much cleavage) or C-cups will seem "flatter" once they put on clothes that aren't unrealistically tight or revealing. Schoolgirl uniforms (which appear often in shoujo) are not supposed to be form-fitting and are somewhat heavy in terms of material, so you definitely won't see any cleavage unless the girl intentionally reveals it (this doesn't happen much in shoujo--go look for your promiscuous girls elsewhere). Girls with D-cups or bigger may have a harder time hiding their breasts, but did you know that the majority of women in America have B- or C-cup breasts? Forget Japan, most women in the US don't even have D-cup breasts. Of course, this is changing due to obesity and plastic surgery, but thank god the rest of the people in the world worry about their health.

3. The answer is NOT because girls "want a relatable main character." Like I said, most girls don't care what size the character's boobs are. Girls (especially "awkward, puberty-stricken, boy crazy teenage girls") aren't going to turn down a manga just because the main character's boobs aren't small enough. However, it's a different story if they're impossibly big. Sorry, not every girl can afford to or even wishes to go under the knife 18 frickin' times.

The question should be changed from "why do chicks in Shojo Manga have no tits" to "are tits drawn better and more realistically in shoujo or in ecchi manga?" And for the ignorant, the answer's the former. Don't know what planet you all live on (or if you've read one two many harem manga), but it's not natural (and kind of disgusting) to have DD- to KKK-size breasts.

On a side note, I have a question for Perentie Fan: how long is long?Personally, I find it perfectly easy to distinguish between the art styles of Skip Beat, Glass Mask, Honey Hunt, Watashi no Megane-kun, Paradise Kiss, Hana Yori Dango, Anatolia Story, and so, so many more. And I don't even need a discerning eye to do it. I can also distinguish between the styles of some shounen and ecchi manga, so I really don't think any one genre has more variety than the other.

2. They have breasts. There just isn't much cleavage. Maybe you haven't done enough research (or been with enough girls), but girls with B-cups (which naturally don't have much cleavage) or C-cups will seem "flatter" once they put on clothes that aren't unrealistically tight or revealing. Schoolgirl uniforms (which appear often in shoujo) are not supposed to be form-fitting and are somewhat heavy in terms of material, so you definitely won't see any cleavage unless the girl intentionally reveals it (this doesn't happen much in shoujo--go look for your promiscuous girls elsewhere). Girls with D-cups or bigger may have a harder time hiding their breasts, but did you know that the majority of women in America have B- or C-cup breasts? Forget Japan, most women in the US don't even have D-cup breasts. Of course, this is changing due to obesity and plastic surgery, but thank god the rest of the people in the world worry about their health.

This really. Shounen and Shojo both emphasize unrealistically on schoolgirl/boy fantasies while leaving the target audience themselves as familiar as possible.

Girls don't appreciate reading about a girl who is hotter than them. Sadly, many shoujo readers are that shallow. After all, it's targeted towards awkward, puberty-stricken, boy crazy teenage girls.

Makes sense, right? You want a relatable main character, not a sexy chick who is confident around the hot guy rather than flustered and a total idiot. (Um, FYI... I actually do want a badass sexy heroine... I'm considered weird by shoujo standards)

Its sorta similar to how in most shonen the guy looks plain or generic cute. Its the same w/ shoujo. Only we get a flat chested, plain, generic cute girls. I guess its so the reader can relate? I think its stupid though. I'd like a shoujo w/ a sexy confident girl who confesses to the guy she likes first and goes after him rather then sitting around flustered while a bishie army pursues her. Are there any shoujo w/ confident and beautiful girls w/ cool guys? No probably not.

However, it's a different story if they're impossibly big. Sorry, not every girl can afford to or even wishes to go under the knife 18 frickin' times.

Well of course, as a guy I find too big to be offputting as well. Albeit it depends a bit on the rest of the body's proportions as to how ridiculous it looks.

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Don't know what planet you all live on (or if you've read one two many harem manga), but it's not natural (and kind of disgusting) to have DD- to KKK-size breasts.

Well the massive amount of variation in humans ensures that there are some who are naturally that way (don't know about KKK though), they are simply a small minority.

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On a side note, I have a question for Perentie Fan: how long is long?

Perhaps I should clarify that the length isn't so much the problem as is the thinness and how it makes them look longer than they migh actually be. I mean most shoujo I have seen just give no muscle tone to the characters, especially the females (there are exceptions I admit).

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Personally, I find it perfectly easy to distinguish between the art styles of Skip Beat, Glass Mask, Honey Hunt, Watashi no Megane-kun, Paradise Kiss, Hana Yori Dango, Anatolia Story, and so, so many more. And I don't even need a discerning eye to do it. I can also distinguish between the styles of some shounen and ecchi manga, so I really don't think any one genre has more variety than the other.

I just have noted that it seems I can always tell a shoujo manga by the art style. Yes there are variations but it seems less than in other genres.

I mean are there any shoujo that are done in art styles similar to Naruto, Kurohime, Rave Master etc. And I'm not referring to breasts, I mean in the overall way the people are drawn.

And I certainly don't dislike all shoujo ('ll name a couple I like at the end of this post), its just harder to find ones with art styles I like than it seems to be for other genres.

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Its sorta similar to how in most shonen the guy looks plain or generic cute. Its the same w/ shoujo. Only we get a flat chested, plain, generic cute girls. I guess its so the reader can relate? I think its stupid though. I'd like a shoujo w/ a sexy confident girl who confesses to the guy she likes first and goes after him rather then sitting around flustered while a bishie army pursues her. Are there any shoujo w/ confident and beautiful girls w/ cool guys? No probably not.

There are a few like that, though the sexy part might be open to interpretation. Among the few I've found with fairly confident girls and more appealing art styles (to me at least) include:

Tenjou no Kajitsu Nothing extraordinary about the art, main guy is typical in looks, but the personalities are great, especially Toudo Yuki, who is basically the opposite of the personality you described a shoujo girl to have. At first she seems to be a the typical shoujo gender-indistinct, yuri woman. Until this exchange:

*fighting with guy, suddenly pauses*Yuki: "Now that I've had a closer look at you, you're kind of cute. Such a girly face. My type!"

Her man-hating friend is fun too.

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And frankly yes, there are a number of average-looking (but usually still cute) guy in shonen, but shonen also feature many main characters who are meant to look the epitome of masculine hotness (because its "cool"). Even the "average" guy in shonen manga often tends to look attractive enough that one wonders why he is often depicted as being unpopular with women or unpopular in general.

1.- The already mentioned fact about the majority of Japanese Women being flat-chested, being either a or b cups, plus the lite frame the vast majority sports too.... So then mangakas are "pushed" to draw someone their public can relate to...

2.- Most of the Shoujo heroines are either: a)Elementary Schoolgirls.... b)Pre-teen gorls or, c)Teenage girls....I'm not surprised most of the heroines have flat chests....

3.- Maybe flat chests are easier to draw *shrugs*

Obviously there's exceptions to the rule... Smuts don't go the flat chested way... some have boobs... not every smut girl have big breasts but hey they exist in shoujo... NANA can be another exception.... and heck, the new character of Kaichou wa Maid-Sama!, Maria Miyazono has a pair of amazing things XD

Fair enough. I think it's safe to say that for most guys, bigger (within reason of course) is always better, and confidence/attitude is like icing on the cake. For shoujo's main audience however, breast sizes aren't a major focus (unless it's part of the story), and confidence is an accessory (making the shoujo a different flavor of shoujo).

And in response to Whatever, there are plenty, but it's just not realistic for the main character in a shoujo to be free of worries and to exude confidence 24/7. People in the real world don't.

As for examples, Devil and her Love Song and Tokyo Crazy Paradise immediately come to mind, but if your idea of confident and beautiful is Natsume Maya from TT, you might not agree.

I've gotta say I never really noticed if the characters have clevage or not. Anyway I'm with bakurui 0n this one, I just think shoujo is more realistic and it's the over-dramatisation concerning boys that puts me of shoujo. Maybe that's just because I'm getting too old to remember when life centered on my latest crush.

One point I should mention is the age factor. I'm 21 now and my cup size is E which means it's nothing short of a nightmare to find well fitting comfortable clothes but if I want to I can hide my chest plus most of my friends are Bs or Cs so I'm a minority. When I was in high school though I was a C cup which was easily hid under my school uniform. I only got larger from 16 onwards. It's strange for young teenage girls to have large breasts and I know most teenage girls are self-concious about their chest regardless of the size so maybe it's a way to not draw attention to a sensitive issue for most young teenage girls.

________________The pen is mightier than the sword...and considerably easier to write with.

Don't know what planet you all live on (or if you've read one two many harem manga), but it's not natural (and kind of disgusting) to have DD- to KKK-size breasts.

Off-topic: Thanks for calling my body unnatural and disgusting.

Even in Japan, there are girls with naturally large breasts. I can see why they wouldn't really be the kind of main character most girls can relate to, but are there really no series out there ABOUT that kind of problem? Like how there are more than a few shoujo manga about really tall girls... I guess it's just less common than that or something. =/